Jesus Fish
I saw a bumper sticker today that freaked me out. Actually, it was more like a bumper banner. It was a large American flag, with a Jesus fish in the middle of it.
Now, what is that supposed to mean? That America is and should be a Christian nation? That the driver of that car is advertising his/her devotion to that idea? Surely it cannot be intended as with as much hostility as it comes across to a Jewish women driving along behind that car.
posted by ayeletw @ 1/24/2005 11:33:00 AM
50 Comments:
No, it just means they're devotees of the Chinese Capitalistic Cause creating that crap.
Signed,
The Atheist
Ayelet, as a convert to Judaism who has a horde of ordinary, ignorant, nominally Christian relatives (many, but not all, of whom live in the deep South), I feel I can speak with some authority on this subject.
No, the intent is not consciously hostile -- I'd bet the driver of that car would be sincerely shocked to know that you find her/his message in any way aggressive or threatening. To many people, all it means is that they love Jesus and they love the US of A. And it would be mystifying to consider that anyone short of bin Laden or the Devil Himself would object to such a thing.
These people also don't understand what the big deal is about Prince Harry dressing up as a Nazi. Or why anyone cares how Iraqi and Afghan prisoners are treated.
Pretty much the whole country could use a short intensive course in the master-slave dialectic. Do you listen to NPR? They ran a segment this weekend that beautifully illustrates the whole unclear-on-the-concept nature of many people who are quite oblivious to the offense and oppression that they cause or participate in. Forget the banality of evil -- it's the banal evil of good intentions.
It does shock me that someone would be sporting such a bumper sticker in Berkeley. You'd think at the very least the car would have been vandalized by now with some competing bumper stickers or spray-painted anarchy symbols or SOMETHING.
The most overtly hostile bumper sticker I've ever seen remains the one I saw on a truck in the redneck-flavored reaches of east San Diego County: "JANE FONDA DIE COMMIE BITCH."
Veronica
Very well explained, Veronica. I also have some relatives that are VERY fundamentalist . . . my family is Catholic, so they're sure we're going to hell, lol. I recognize the mentality Veronica describes because I've also been around it, but I don't understand it. This trend of mixing Christianity with patriotism makes me slightly ill. I don't have any eloquent way to explain it . . . you can just tell when you see some things that they are WRONG. Jesus wrapped in an American flag. Ick ick ick. What's next, Peter and Paul doing guest spots in a bad Toby Keith video??
I had the same reaction yesterday to a woman whose car had an American flag (motorcade style) and the vanity license plate: PSALM6 ("The LORD has heard my prayer; the LORD takes up my plea. My foes will be terrified and disgraced; all will fall back in sudden shame."). Maybe she was just a religious and patriotic person -- and I think Veronica is probably right that it's usually not consciously hostile -- but this kind of display does have a tribal aspect that strikes me as inherently exclusionary, so I don't think it's unreasonable for those of us who are excluded to perceive it as hostile.
In late October, I was stuck in traffic on the highway. The Lexus SUV in the lane next to me sported a bumper sticker that read, "John Kerry Sucks, and so do his supporters." Of course, I had a Kerry/Edwards sticker on the back of my Mommy van. So here I was, alone with my two small children, wondering what would happen when my lane of traffic required me to inch past his luxury vehicle (it was a guy driving). Would he make an obscene gesture, roll down his window and yell, pull out the handgun that he no doubt keeps in his glove compartment? I don't think of myself as easily intimidated, but this bumper sticker did it. Luckily, traffic sped up quickly, and I was able to watch the hate-mongering SUV drive far away. Phew!
I've just discovered blogs and blogger and am enjoying your postings, Ayelet. I, too, am a 40-year-old mom and writer married to a guy from Cleveland. Thanks.
My husband's alter ego (uh, long story) has a saying (which he probably stole from somewhere) that goes something like this: "Never attribute to malice that which can be attributed to stupidity."
Cathy
"Surely it cannot be intended as with as much hostility as it comes across to a Jewish women driving along behind that car."
Umm....wouldn't count on that. Could be that I'm just a Paranoid Jew, but I think your diagnosis of it as saying "America is and should be a Christian nation" gets it, partially. More like "America is and should be a Christian nation, and all you Others should be glad we let you stick around, for now."
This, does not make me unanxious.
I'd like to think that people who put that stuff on their cars, or their desks...are just innocent. But over the years since I've been a Jew (23 years ago, before I got married) I keep running into Christian people who are just ignorant of history and the big picture. For instance, a former co-worker, a wonderful, loving friend, who told me that the Crusaders absolutely did not kill any Jews. And at the newspaper where I handle all the emailed letters to the editor, we are getting so many now about how Christians need to stand up for themselves and BE the majority. Really, it is scary. Intolerance and narrow-mindedness seem to be getting more respectable, which has a lot to do with the current presidential administration, I think.
You guys have got to chill out. So some driver loves Jesus and America. Why do you have to take it as a personal insult or read more into it? Why is that so threatening to you? Talk about narcissistic! It's NOT all about you, or all about Jews. And the suggestion by several of you that the driver's likely "innocence" must derive from ignorance is so condescending, and such an unfair stereotype. If someone wants to have a flag and a Jesus fish on their car they can't possibly know anything about history? Please. You guys have got to get over yourselves. I know the repeatedly ugly history of Christianity with respect to non-Christians, and I will always respect anyone's right to express him or herself in the perfectly reasonable way this driver did. Having an American flag and a Jesus fish on your car does not mean anything other than that you love god and country. Your absurd conjectures about the driver's "motivations" are just a sad waste of time.
LOL! I see that crap all the time here in good old VA. So I started making my own stickers to support my own opinion. So far not too many Jesus fish lovers are happy about it. BTW, The fish is actually a Yoni, the symbol for a female goddess. After doing research on the symbol I made a sticker of the fish, turned it back the the original position and added the caption, "I'll give you a hint, it's not a fish." No one gets it except the people who actually know what a Yoni is (which isn't very many). Most of the time they will just look at me with this confused look on their face. But I also have a few other stickers like "GODLESS AMERICA" for all those wonderful Christian america stickers. I had one that said "Read the bible, Become an Atheist" but my husband took it off and that one made a lot of people around her pissy. One guy held up his bible while he drove pass me. We got a kick out of that guy.
My LI plates say "UNBLVR" and yup, that too gets looks and notes along with the passing by yelling of "JESUS LOVES YOU!"
I gotta say, it's never boring being the minortiy.
~AtheistMommy~
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Read "The Case for a Creator" and "The Case for Christ". Both are written by a scientist (Lee Strobel). You may be surprised at what you will learn. Also, leave the woman alone. Shes happy about what she stands for and who she is. You should respect that.
My husband told me about that sticker yesterday and we find it so very offensive and frightening. I find it ironic that some people who claim to be 'good christians' (and please note that I do not speak about ALL christians here, only those who seem to believe in their own superiority) do such unchristian things. Isn't there something in the bible about loving your neighbor? I have not read the bible for a while so I could be wrong. Perhaps it does indeed say 'love your fellow white, christian, American, straight, conservative, wealthy man? '
Did someone pull these people out of history class when they were studying the oppression of the Jews in Tzarist Russia, the religiously run gov't of Iran, the suppression of any religion in China, the Spanish Inquisition . . . shall I go on? I have to wonder, do such people really believe that God is in heaven saying, "Let's see, I like this particular group of christians, but not Jews, Muslims, Buddists, Shintos, American Indians, etc. so they can all go to hell" SERIOUSLY? If God is all-powerful as they suggest, do they really think God made a mistake by creating more than one religion? Did it EVER occur to them that maybe God would like us to simply be good people?
And about this being a christian nation . . . my stomach is churning as I type. THE WHOLE FOUNDATION OF THIS COUNTRY IS ABOUT FREEDOM OF AND FROM RELIGION!! Why is this such a difficult thing to grasp??? As a Jew by birth, and an atheist in belief, I can't even express how angry this makes me. For some great information about this issue, please consult Americans United for Separation of Church and State. Its a watchdog group that deals with this very issue.
The way I see it, if you dont like what you've seen then maby you shouldn't be living in a country whose laws and nation were founded and based upon christian principles. Maby america just isn't for you. We have the freedom to express out religious views and lets face it, you'll never get through life unoffended.
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